Love and a Bikini
by welshcanadian14
Summary: It was a hot summer day and the trio of friends were too hot to do anything. To cool off, they go to the beach. What if all it took for Tony to realise how great his feelings are for Pepper is to see her in a bikini. How will he cope when he wants Pepper to be his girlfriend but can never find the right moment to do so? Will it even all happen at the beach? Or somewhere else?
1. Chapter 1: To the beach!

**A/N: This story is set after season two. Where Iron man, Rescue and War Machine are a team. They are all 18.**

**~welshcanadian14~**

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><p><span><strong>Love and a Bikini<strong>

Chapter 1

To the beach!

It was a hot summer day in New York city and school was finished, including the Tomorrow Academy. The trio of friends, Tony, Pepper and Rhodey, had all finally finished high school and entering a new chapter of their lives...college! Even Tony could go since his dad had come back and became head of the company again, instead of his son.

Before thinking about their future, the three friends just wanted to have fun and, of course, be super heroes and help people if there is a crisis. The crime rate had been slow lately since the whole apocalypse and aliens trying to destroy the world problem they had.

It had been only one week since the end of the school year and Pepper, Rhodey and Tony were in their, as they call it, base of operations or armory. They were, for once, bored trying to find something fun to do. What made things worse, was that the air conditioning was not working. They were sweating like hell. Even Pepper didn't say much. Now that was weird.

After the longest minutes of silence, ever, Pepper perked up. Ready to ramble on with an idea she had just come up with to cure their boredness. Since it was extremely hot and humid, she knew exactly where they needed to go. This idea was much better than taking a cold shower.

Tony had his doubts about how Pepper's face started to light up, like she had an idea. Sometimes her ideas were really good, but they were also sometimes crazy and somewhat dangerous. Somehow though, that was one quality he liked about her. He had made up his mind, he did like her, but didn't know how to say it. He did, after all, kiss her cheek and hug her when they had finally defeated the alien invasion. Tony still didn't know how deep his feelings actually were. He did have an extremely high IQ but when it came to love, he was oblivious. He just needed a little push. He then got pulled out of his thinking bubble by the sound of the red head's voice.

Pepper squealed. "Tony! Rhodey! I have the best idea ever! What do you think it is?" Pepper then waited anxiously for the two boys to guess.

Rhodey answered first, rubbing hid neck. "Pep, I don't know if I even want to know. Remember last time you had an idea? I almost broke my legs!"

"Don't be such a baby! That idea was good! How was I suppose to know if we mixed those two liquids together it would explode! And I promise, this idea is completely safe."

Tony then cut in, seeming amused "Ok, ok tell us this 'safe' idea of yours." saying the word safe while emphasising it.

Pepper rolled her eyes and then started babbling on about her marvellous idea.

"Since we are dying of heat... let's go to the beach! We can swim, make sand castles. Oh! Oh! I can wear my new swimsuit. Come on guys it'll be fun. Please, please, please, pl..."

Before Pepper could continue, Rhodey cut her off before his ears bled. But he had to admit this was a good idea, for once.

"Ok Pepper we'll go to the beach! Just stop talking." Rhodes then looked at Tony waiting for his response.

Tony also liked his friend's idea, he hadn't gone to the beach in years. Especially with his two best friends.

"Sure let's go! We'll have to take a car though, it is a bit far and we can't use our armour, people will swarm around us. Will your mom mind if we use her car?" Tony turned to Rhodes,

"Yea it's fine she's out on a business trip anyway."

Pepper screamed out of delight, dragging her two friends by the arm and out of the armoury.

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><p>Pepper had told the two boys to pack their swimming stuff and that she would meet them in half a hour at Rhodey's house. They didn't even have time to reply, since Pepper had already disappeared, going to her house to retrieve the swimsuit she dearly wanted to put on. She couldn't wait to see Tony face when he saw her in it. She had a crus on him for quite a long time and was still waiting for him to make a move. The red head didn't count him making a move when he kissed her on the cheek after the Makluan invasion. Come on a kiss on the cheek! Twelve year olds did that, not eighteen year olds. She sometimes didn't get how clueless Tony was when it came to reviling his feelings.<p>

Pepper had grabbed a towel, sunblock ad many other useful things to use at the beach. She then put her bathing suit underneath a summer dress and ran out of the door, barely saying goodbye to her father.

A dozen minutes later, she met up with the two teens waiting for her outside Rhodey's house. Pepper came up to them, out of breath from running a bit too fast. She wanted to say something but held her finger up, showing them to wait until she got her breath back.

"How did you get here before me! I ran the whole way!" Still a bit out of breath.

"My dad insisted on driving me, even if I could of used the iron man armor. He says he wants to spend the much time with me as possible since he missed two years of my life. Who can blame him, but he is still starting to get on my nerves." Tony shrugged.

"And well this is my house." Rhodey answered, pointing at the house behind him.

"Whatever, TO THE BEACH! I'm dying of heat!" Pepper cried, running towards the car. She had gotten her license six months ago and wanted to drive. Tony ran after her.

"No Pepper you are not driving! You drive way too fast!"

"No I don't! It's not my fault you drive like an old lady"

"Guys! Calm down, because you can't decide I'm driving." Rhodey cut in stealing the car keys from Pepper's hand.

The two friends agreed, he was probably the best driver out the three of them. He took all the safety precautions and didn't go too fast or too slow.

Tony and Pepper sat in the back and Rhodey sat in the driver's seat.

"ONWARDS!" Pepper screamed, impatient to get there.

_"This is going to be a long car ride" _Tony thought, knowing who would be talking all the way there.

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><p><strong>End of chapter 1<strong>

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2: The woman uder the sunhat

**Disclaimer: I do not own IMAA because if I did, I would punch myself or anyone else for not making a third season!**

**~welshcanadian14~**

**PS: Please review and you will get an imaginary cookie or maybe two... ㇱ0ㇱ0 (That's all I can afford)**

Chapter 2

The woman under the sun hat

Rhodey parked into a free parking space, that had took him quite a long time to find. He had actually waited for someone to leave and then quickly took that person's space before any other cars. Rhodey was very determined to get that parking space, so he did. It was quite an amusing speculation to watch for the two other teenagers that were sitting in the back seats. Also quite terrifying, thinking that their friend was getting quite competitive, yelling at a few other drivers. This was a first for the safety first car driver. They would never let Rhodey park in a overly populated car park ever again.

They had finally arrived, Tony was relieved, having to listen to Pepper ramble on and having cramps in his legs from the small leg room in the back of the Hyundai Veloster was getting quite unbearable. It was nice, getting to stretch his legs.

The beach was teeming with civilians. It was expected from the amount of cars that were in the parking lot. The tree friends did not care one bit about it, they were too hot to, even if they had cranked the AC to max in the car during the ride there.

Pepper looked around, using her hand to block the sun gleaming in her eyes and trying to locate a spot on the sand to lay down their towels and a big yellow parasol.

"Guys follow me! I found the perfect spot next to the pier! KYAA! This id going to be so fun!" The redhead squealed, wiping sweat off her brow.

The guys just nodded and followed their friend. Not bothering to respond, she would just talk over them anyway.

It was a convenient spot, not too close to the sea and not too far. The sand was clean and soft, with no big granules or rocks and luckily no crabs. Pepper picked perfectly.

As Rhodey and Pepper started to set up the folding chairs and parasol, Tony headed to the bathroom to change into his trunks. Forgetting to put them on at home like his two less forgetful friends did. Unluckily for him, when he rushed, he forgot a lot of things. Good job he at least remembered to bring his swim shorts.

Tony entered the bathroom, which was a wooden hut. He hated it, it was dirty, it smelled of dead rats combined with the scent of salt and sand was everywhere and in places Tony couldn't even fathom. He would of rather swim in his boxer but that would be embarrassing accompanied with a lot of staring. Something Tony already had a lot of since everyone knew he was Iron Man now and, well, he was teenage billionaire genius Tony Stark thinking rather bluntly. All he wanted to say, was , next time to change before leaving. If there was a next time.

Tony changed as quickly as possible, on tippy toes, trying not to step on something strange or gooey. He had even stood on the bench in the changing stall for the bench had less chance of being infected with less germs. Tony also had to be careful of someone opening his stall's door for the door lock was broken and didn't lock. The teen wasn't a clean freak or anything but this was just wrong. Didn't this beach ever hear of a janitor?

Finally the traumatizing moment was over and Tony ran quickly out of the hut, not even bothering of taking his shirt off. He had wanted to get out of the bathrooms as soon as possible.

Tony walked back to the pier, where he saw Rhodey waiting for him but not Pepper, she had disappeared.

"Hey Tony why did you get changed in the bathrooms? Everybody knows the number one rule; Do not step foot in public beach restrooms." Rhodey pointed out.

"How was I supposed to know if nobody ever told me... Rhodey" Tony said, trying to make a point. Of course he never knew about this 'rule' , the only beach he had ever went to was the private one his family owned, right next to his dad's villa in Italy.

"Well at least you know now." Rhodey said.

"Yea, but I would of liked to know sooner, so I would of been prepared."

"Tony, it's not like you were getting prepared to fight whiplash. Anyway, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Rhodey replied, finding this conversation funny and pointless.

Tony left it be and asked his friend,

"Hey where's Pepper. I thought she would wait for me."

Rhodes shrugged, "You know how impatient Pepper can be. She told me that you were taking too long so ran off to look for you."

"I was only gone for five minutes!"

"Well I guess, for Pepper, that's ages. But I know why you want to see her so badly. You want to see who hot she looks in a bathing suit." Rhodey laughed, making Tony blush.

Stark just ignored his sometimes annoying friend and looked around, trying to find his friend or as he could never call her out loud... crush.

Tony was getting confused, he couldn't see her.

_"How can a redheaded woman be so hard to find?"_ The teen pondered, it was her idea to come her and he wanted to spend his time with her.

Meanwhile, Rhodey was just following his best friend, contemplating on how long it was going to take for Tony to spot his favorite redhead, since he had already spotted her.

Tony kept on looking, not giving up yet. During his 'spot the red head' game, he was deciding if he liked public beaches or not.

All the negative aspects were that it was really crowded, dozens of seagulls swarmed around, trying to snatch food from people's hands of plates and he thing Tony remembered as clear as day, the bathrooms were a living nightmare. But there was one thing that made Tony's hormones rise through the roof, the girls. The teenage girls, especially a certain young woman.

She was extremely hot. slender smooth and rather pale body. Long sexy thin legs. The girl sported an overly revealing black and navy blue string bikini that showed her stomach and her... breasts. He was quite disappointed since he couldn't see her face since she was wearing a yellow sun hat and she was standing, facing her side to him. He gulped, she was gorgeous.

Tony was rather puzzled, he felt really strange and hot, like the way he felt towards the lovely Pepper. He felt the urge to walk p to the girl and talk to her. But resisted his hormones, he shouldn't go, it would upset Pepper, the one he liked and would make it even harder to have a chance of being with her...one day.

Tony, however kept staring, thinking that he felt like he knew her somehow. Out of the blue, Rhodey, who had been watching his the whole time, had shaken him out of his thoughts and stares by his voice.

"Dude, I see you have finally spotted Pepper." Rhodey said, talking loud enough so only Tony could hear. He then slung his arm around Tony's shoulder, laughing. Rhodes was thinking about the look on Tony's face when he had seen Pepper, in the bikini. It was a face of total awe. He also found it hilarious that Stark had not noticed that it was her. He knew that she had a hat on, but come on it was his best friend. Tony was probably too focused on staring at her curves and edges.

Tony blushed furiously,

_"That's Pepper! I can't believe I had all those dirty thoughts about her. Oh my gosh, the way I looked at her breasts!"_ Tony thought. He had never been so embarrassed in his whole life.

After a few moments, Tony found that it made much more sense now. All those feelings he was having wasn't toward another woman, it was towards Pepper, the only one who could get his heart beating that fast.

Stark glanced at her again, blushing. He had never seen Pepper in, well, almost nothing. Tony then felt a rush of anger and jealousy. He could see many guys eying her up, it made him want to punch them.

_"Why would she wear something that made her look so... exposed!" _Tony screamed internally. He was the only one allowed to see her like that, not even Rhodey.

Tony then started thinking to himself again, not even noticing Rhodey next to him, with his friend's arm still around his shoulders.

_"Why am I thinking that! She's not mine, she's not my girlfriend... but maybe she should be, I know I like her, or maybe even more that that."_

Tony's spirits lifted, but he became nervous. he wouldn't know how to ask or even how to commence the conversation, knowing that he would become a bumbling idiot and then not making any sense. But he would still try, it couldn't be that hard. Could it?

Once again, Rhodey knocked him out of LaLa land.

"Tony, are you just going to stand there and look pretty or are going to go talk to her, she is looking for you. Go quickly, before some guy goes there before you and chat's her up. You don't want that now, do you?" Rhodey then gave his friend a little push forward.

Tony got jealous, again, not wanting anyone to talk to her or even worse, touch her bare skin. He walked up to her, speed walking and tapper her shoulder from behind.

_"Calm down Tony, it's Pep, the person you've been talking to for years!" _Tony thought, giving himself a pep-talk** (A/N: no pun intended!)**

When Tony tapped Pepper's shoulder, she immediately turned around. When she saw it was Tony her face lit up and she took her hat off. Pepper was so relieved, she had been trying to find him, but then got distracted by a cute little dog she really wanted to pet.

When Pepper had taken her hat off, Tony found Pep even more beautiful, with her stunning features, freckles and soft short red hair flowing to her shoulders.

"Tony! There you are! I have been trying to look for you, but then I got distracted by a cute dog. You should of seen it, it was so cute and soft with adorable tiny ears! It's name was Fido, funny isn't it? Why does everyone call their dog Fido? I am so hot and sweaty! Aren't you? Come on let's go swim!" At the end of the non-stop mumbling, Pepper grabbed Tony's hand before he could get a word in and ran into the glistening blue water. Splashing Tony with all her might.

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><p><strong>End of chapter 2...<strong>

**To be continued in the third (and maybe final, haven't decided yet) chapter.**

**Up and out! Till next time**


	3. Chapter 3: Tying the not so easy knot

Chapter 3

Tying the not so easy knot 

Tony got pushed into the water, getting water splashed on his face by Pepper. The water was cold but refreshing, he shook for a minute but then slowly got used to the water. At least he wasn't sweating anymore, yet he probably still smelt gross. But he was a guy, it could pass. He then splashed Pepper back with more force, along with Rhodey entering the water fight. He had been running behind Tony when Pepper was pulling him towards the ocean.

"Hey that's not fair! Ganging up on a girl like that! One of you could be on my side!" Pepper screamed, pouting, but then burst out laughing, for she was having too much fun to be angry.

"Don't complain! Anyway I don't think you care. You are laughing!" Tony joked, with Rhodey next to him, laughing too.

For revenge, Pepper then tried to splash the two boys at the same time. She failed miserably, she didn't have enough strength in her upper arms.

Pepper loved to swim and the feel of water against her skin. She found it very relaxing. When she was child, she used to take swimming lessons. Every week, she would count the days until her next class. She then gave the classes up when she almost drowned. It wasn't anyone's fault, she had just gotten a cramp in her leg whilst she was doing the crawl in the deep end. She was luckily saved by her swimming teacher, it wasn't so bad, she did get CPR from her handsome, well built, instructor. It was too bad she was only eight years old. Pepper could almost say that it was her first kiss, other than the ones she gave her father.

_"YUCK! I can't believe I used to do that! And on the lips as well." _Pepper had once thought to herself. It was just small pecks, but it was still kind of creepy, if she were to do it at the age of eighteen.

After that, her dad forbid her to take any more lessons. And what was she to do? She was only small kid. She still was too young to say 'no' to her father. Her father was very overprotective after what happened to her mother and it was understandable.

She actually didn't tell her father about the beach trip, fearing that it would bring back the painful memory of his only daughter almost drowning. She had just told him that she was hanging out with Tony and Rhodey the whole day. She did feel a little guilt, but she wasn't really lying. She did tell her dad the truth, she was hanging out with Tony and Rhodey. What he doesn't know can't hurt him.

Her guilt faded away when she got snapped out of her thinking state by a rush of water striking her face, shocking her so much she fell into the water, with a dumbfounded face. The water had seeped up to the upper part of her shoulders, for she was now in a sitting position, feeling the soft and gooey sand beneath her.

The two boys found the girl's face funny, just seeing her head and neck poking out of the water.

Tony did find it funny but he had something more important going on in the back of his mind. Asking Pepper to be his girlfriend. Tony had already made up his mind, he was going to ask her, well, try anyway. When he told himself he was going to do something, he would do it, not doing anything else until he had completed it. But this time it wasn't a invention to invent or a fighting a crime lord. This was completely different. It was Pepper and he didn't want to screw anything up.

Tony went up to Pepper, who was still almost submerged in the sea, and gave her a hand to get up, but she didn't take his hand and started blushing. He noticed that Pepper was holding her chest. That's when he saw why she was blushing, the string that had been tied around her neck to hold the bikini top up, had came untied. He blushed like hell, glowing red

"Don't look Tony! Pervert! Turn around!" Pepper screeched, clutching her chest even harder.

"Sorry!"

Tony turned around quickly, not able to calm down. Waiting for Pepper to tie her bikini.

_"This is so embarrassing! Why does this have to happen to me!"_ Pepper screamed in her head. Trying to mend the problem. But she couldn't. She needed more than two hands to tie the string back around her neck. She needed two hands holding the bikini up from falling and... well... showing her breasts and then two other hands to tie a knot. She needed someone to help her. Unfortunately, her two best friends were male and one of them she had a crush on.

Pepper had no choice though, she needed to ask Rhodey or Tony for help. She desperately wanted Rhodey to help her, since he was like a brother to her but he had fled.

_"Thanks a lot Rhodey, leave the moment I need you."_

When Rhodey had seen the predicament unfold in font of him, he decided to leave. This was the best way to get this couple together. It was obvious since day one that they had feelings for each other. So he crept away, like a thief in the night.

She didn't want Tony to help her. The feelings she felt towards the millionaire was completely different from brotherly love. The opposite actually, but she had no choice, it had to be him. Him or some stranger. She obviously picked him. She hoped he wouldn't touch her anywhere inappropriate by accident.

Pepper took a deep respiration and looked at Tony, still with his back turned around, slightly fidgeting and twiddling his thumbs. Pepper prayed that her face wasn't turning the same colour as her hair.

Tony was getting a little impatient, he was relieved that his face wasn't on fire anymore.

_"How long does it take to tie a knot?"_

Tony then heard Pepper call,

"Tony...I am in need of an extra pair of hands...can you help me?" It was the first time Tony had ever seen Pepper talk so slow and with such few words.

Tony's heart started to beat fast again. He was really nervous. he thought what Rhodey would tell him if he were here.

_"Dude, chill, you just have to tie a knot!"_

Almost straightaway, Tony answered Pepper's question.

"Sure...uhh...what do I have to do?" Tony asked nervously, hoping that he wouldn't be this nervous while asking Pepper to be his girlfriend.

Tony went around Pepper, now standing in back of her.

"You just have to tie the string around my neck...and I'll hold on to my...breas...upper half."

Tony tried to say 'sure' but instead he just nodded, unsure that if he spoke his voice wouldn't come out.

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><p>After the nervous ordeal was finished, both friends, exhaled, happy that the dilemma was over. Tony nor Pepper wouldn't say they didn't like it. Tony touching Pepper's fair skin and Pepper feeling Tony's gentle touch. It was simply really nerve-racking. What made it even worse was that they both were showing a lot of skin.<p>

Tony had tied the knot and backed away quickly. It was actually quite hard for him even if he just had to tie a knot, but he was getting distracted by the back of Pepper's neck. He thought he was going crazy, thinking how hot Pepper's neck truly was. He knew he wasn't a perverted guy, but this wasn't helping his case.

"Let's go back to the shore Tony. It seems like we've misplaced a best friend." Pepper explained, with a hint of anger in her voice.

She wanted to have a talk with Rhodey, knowing that he purposely backed away, knowing that she would only have Tony left to help her. She was going to make his ears bleed, but also wanted to thank him, for getting Tony so close to her. But of course she wouldn't thank him, she would sound too perverted and Rhodey would laugh at her.

"Yeah good idea, we'll go see if Rhodey wet back to the place by the pier where all our stuff is." Tony replied, now back to acting as normal as he could be with Pepper.

Tony actually didn't want to go find Rhodey, he wanted some alone time with Pepper. He had to tell her some important things and was only going to say them in front of the red head and nobody else, especially Rhodes.

"Pepper, you know what? Let's not go find Rhodey, he's probably busy...sunbathing. Let's just take a walk by the shore line. Feel the soggy sand against our feet."

Pepper was ecstatic, but keeping it inside her, trying not to look very happy. She just nodded, not wanting to open her mouth and babble, ruining the moment. Pepper was questioning this new side of Tony. He was acting _too_ nice and _too_ gentlemanly. She didn't know if she was appreciating it, although it did make her feel special. If was a rare sight for her and Tony to be together, alone. They were usually with Rhodey or someone else, but they liked to be alone together, it made them feel extremely happy.

This was the perfect time for Tony to make his move. No point in backing down now.

As Tony was going to halt their walk, touch Peppers shoulders and express all his deepest and sappy feelings towards her, their was a annoying, sidetracking sound. Or he could call it music or a tune coming out of a white and pink van. The ice cream van.

_"Just what I needed!"_ Tony thought sarcastically went he saw the red head's face light up, forgetting about him completely and only wandering about all the ice cream and popsicle flavors she could buy. She was distracted a little bit too easily.

"Tony! The ice cream truck is here! Let's buy something! I'm going to get chocolate...no! BANANA CHERRY ICE CREAM!" Pepper said excitingly, dragging Tony behind her for the second time this day.

They had paid for the ice cream and Tony was amazed and confused of where Pepper had kept her wallet. He thought it was seemingly impossible since she was sporting merely a small amount of fabric, with no pockets. He was annoyed since she didn't want to tell him and that just made him think about where she might of kept it. It made him seem so horny and that wasn't good, at all. He didn't feel any better when he saw Pepper slowing eating her ice cream in total bliss.

"Mmmmm...this so tasty, refreshing and good! How's yours Tony?" Pepper asked, sitting next to Tony on the soft sand that she was sifting through it with her free hand.

"Tony? You ok? You seem preoccupied, and your ice cream is melting onto your hand." Pepper said again. She also wanted to ask why he was staring at her with such complexity, but was too embarrassed to ask. He was probably just thinking about his newest invention and just happened to have his head in the clouds and glancing her way at the same time. She hoped it wasn't the reason though.

" Yeah, I'm fine... oh! My ice cream!"

Tony then jumped up, trying to wipe the ice cream off his hand. It made quite a mess, making his hand really sticky. Pepper just giggled, getting a napkin to clean his hand.

"Here, use this." Pepper said, putting her hand out, giving him the napkin.

"Thanks." Tony replied, blushing when they touched hands. This was getting out of hand, now he was blushing just because he touched her hand for two seconds, and it didn't help while she was in that deep blue bikini.

Now was Tony's... second chance since he had been annoyingly interrupted by the tune of a ice cream truck. He wouldn't let anything distract him or Pepper. He'll have to say it fast then.

Pepper had finished her icy dessert and Tony's had just melted.

Stark took both of Pepper's hands into his and exclaimed.

"Pepper! I have something to tell you...I...LO..." Not being able to continue, because it had just began to bucket it down.

_"Great... just great! It had to rain today of all days! Even if it hasn't rained for a week now! Mother nature just hates me!"_

"Come on Tony! I hear thunder and I'm starting to get cold!" Pepper squeaked, not liking thunder storms, and clutching Tony's arm. This time it was Tony's turn to drag Pepper behind him, bringing her to the car for shelter. Every time Pepper saw lightening or heard thunder, she clutched on to Tony's arm with more force. It hurt but it was worth it.

As they ran up to the car, Rhodey had the same idea as them and was already sitting in the car, with all their stuff in the trunk. Both Tony and Pepper then sat in the same seats they were in when they had arrived at the beach.

Rhodey turned around, looking at them from the front drivers seat.

"So I guess, we're heading home then. A shame though, we were having a great time...weren't we Tony." Rhodey said, emphasising Tony's name, because he was seeing how close Pepper was to him since she was still not liking the sound of thunder, even if they were in the car.

"Yeah...I guess. But let's go to the armory, it's too early to go home." Tony said, looking a bit discouraged and down, for not being able to get three little words into the ears of his favorite redhead. He'll have to try when they get to the armory. Now he had to try to get rid of Rhodey when they get there. What to do?

As they drove back to the bustling center of the city called New York, Tony was quite content of sitting in the car, next to the really close and scared Pepper, still clutching on to him arm.

_"I hope there will be no more distractions..." _Tony thought.

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><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>

**Yes...ladies and gentlemen, I have decided to make another chapter. There are a few more things I want to do...**

** ~welshcanadian14~**


	4. Chapter 4: Back to the drawing board

Chapter 4

Back to the drawing board 

The storm had died down when the trio of friends were halfway to the armory. Pepper had stopped clutching on to Tony's chest and he felt somewhat disappointed.

From the lack of closeness and Pepper's fear, the two teenagers weren't able to put their clothes on so they were still in their bathing attire. But now that Pepper's fear had vanished from the lack of lightning flashes and booming thunder, they were now able to at least put their clothes over their damp swimming suits.

The rest of the car ride was inexplicably uneventful, everybody just sat in silence, looking out their side windows, except Rhodey who was concentrating on safely driving.

The only time silence was broken was when Pepper exclaimed that she saw some cows huddling together in a pasture.

"Hey Tony! Look at those cows, they look so cute huddled all together like that!" Pepper said, pulling on Tony's white shirt for his attention.

"Don't cows do that when it's going to rain?" Tony pondered, not knowing any knowledge about these milk giving mammals.

Rhodey entered the conversation.

"Cows sit down when it's about to rain." Rhodey explained.

"How are you a cow expert?" Tony asked, brow lifted, slightly mocking his friend.

"General knowledge, some things you just overhear or see on TV. Not surprised you didn't know, you never watch TV." Rhodey mocked, getting back at his friend.

"Ha ha ha…very funny Rhodes." Stark said sarcastically giving Rhodey a small glare which Rhodey noticed from the rear view mirror.

Pepper seeing her two friends running out of things to say picked up the conversation again.

"Did you know that cows have four stomachs!? It's like… alien!" Pepper said, still continuing the subject about cows.

"Pepper, talking about cows is getting a bit boring." Rhodey stated, sighing, wanting some peace and quiet. What? Sometimes he wanted some silence. He already had enough of Pepper's babbling on the way to the beach.

Pepper huffed, not getting how much her talking could annoy people, looking out the window again. She stayed mute for the rest of the way, half hoping that it wouldn't rain again but also half hoping it would because then she would have an excuse for holding on to Tony…again. Pepper's face blushed the color red for she was reminiscing about how built Tony's body and arms had felt.

Tony enjoyed the silence. Sometimes he did like the ramblings of Pepper but right now he just wanted to think…about Pepper for he still hadn't made a move on her and was getting…how do I put it…quite aggravated for not being able to. Damn all the ice cream trucks and damn Mother Nature.

They has finally arrived at the armory, Rhodey had parked the car a small distance from the entrance of the temple. They didn't want to head home yet, it was too early.

The teenagers got out of the car and smelt the refreshing smell of when it had just rained. Dew and freshly cut grass. Although it still felt humid and slightly sticky, the temperature decreased by a few degrees from the grey clouds shielding the sun from pushing through, heating the city up again.

Pepper loved the delightful odour rain makes after it had ceased. She hated when it rain but she still loved how the air smelt after the storm was over. She had some particular likes. But, after all, she was Pepper.

The teens entered the spacey armoury with tools, wires and spare parts spread everywhere in it. Even on the floor. It was quite a mess, but they were used to it. The best inventors have the messiest workshops. And Tony was one of the best. He did create the Iron Man armor after all.

They all found a place to sit comfortably and made themselves at home, it was actually, as they can call it, their second home. The one they can chill out in, armour up, strategize and be themselves in, knowing it was just them, with nobody watching or criticizing them. It was their home out of home, safe haven, armory, invention lab and they had many other names they called it.

Pepper always tried her best keeping the armory at least presentable for her eyes. Sweeping the floors and picking the molding old food off the floor for rats not to eat. She hoped there wasn't any rats nor cockroaches, but she wouldn't be surprise if any little visitors came one day if she stopped cleaning up the mess her two best friends always seemed to make.

She would turn around for an instant and there would already be another mess to clean up. She was getting really fed up telling them to stop making messes. Especially Tony.

"Guys! I had just cleaned yesterday! How can it be already so...MESSY!" Pepper screamed, the instant she had set foot inside. When Pepper was angry, she had a kind of tone and it always made Tony and Rhodey cringe.

"Relax Pep, it's not as bad as you make it out to be." Tony said, trying to calm Pepper down.

"RELAX?RELAX! Stark I will not relax! I give up! I will never clean an inch of this...this...DUMP again!" Pepper screamed once again, storming out of the armoury.

As she left, Rhodey whispered to Tony.

"Dude I think she's snapped. Why do you think? She never get's that angry by just a little mess."

"I have no idea what the hell just happened..." Tony said, looking shocked. Great...how will he ever confess now.

"Do you think..." Rhodey moved a little closer to Tony, still whispering, afraid Pepper could hear, "the monthly monster has come?"

"What?...Oh that...how am I supposed to know!?" Tony blushed, all boys got uncomfortable about these...feminine things. He just hoped that he would find out why Pepper was...fuming.

_"I guess I'm back to the drawing board about asking Pepper to be my girlfriend..." _Tony sighed, this was getting too complicated for his own good.

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><p><strong>I know this is a very short chapter! Sorry, next time I will write longer ones. Please review. When I get a review my day gets much less boring. Yes..my life isn't a fast pace movie. It's just a normal everyday life with a few weird its in between.<strong>

**Hopes yours is just as boring...then I won't feel left out! **

**Thanks for reading ;)**


	5. Chapter 5: The Practically Perfect

**A/N: I am really pleased with this chapter, I hope you like it too. Oh happy day!**

**Disclaimer: Even if I was the biggest fan of IMAA, I would not own it. Sadly...**

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><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

The Practically Perfect Pepper Potts

Pepper had run out of the door swiftly, pacing as fast as her legs could take her to her house. She felt awfully bad about screaming at her friends like that for no apparent reason. Well she knew the reason, but her friends couldn't possibly know. To boys, girls were obviously complicated and not emotionally stable. How did she know what went on in an eighteen year old boy's head? It was simple, she was around two of them practically all day and everyday.

She caught up on some boyish opinions by just listening on to their, as they called it 'manly conversations'. Manly was certainly not the word, the word she would describe their conversations as was 'insignificant to their needs'.

Pepper wasn't being visited by the monthly monsters… ok… she was, but that wasn't the reason she got all hysterical. Ok, that was part of the reason, but it wasn't the whole picture. Not at all. Her outburst were numerous emotions jumbled up all together and coming out all at once accidently. And one of those emotions was confusion. Why confusion you ask?

Her confusion was lighted by the one and only Tony Stark. He had acted strange at the beach, trying to get her alone, trying to ditch Rhodey. Pepper noticed also that it seemed he wanted to tell her something and she really wanted to know what. She also really wanted to know what he thought her as. Just a friend or something passing that boundry.

The redhead always noticed a lot more things that normal people do. She was the daughter of a detective. The genes were passed on to her or at least they had rubbed off from her dad and on to her.

Her rising temper was also subject from the shaky nerves she had gotten from the long duration of her terrifying phobia, storms. She had never told anybody the reason she was scared of thunder and lighting. Why her body tensed up and needed to hold tightly on to someone. It was on of the few things she never wanted to talk about. And that was a lot coming from Pepper Potts.

Her phobia was evoked from when she was little. It was the day of her mother's departure. The day her mother chose to leave her and her father behind.

**[Flashback...eleven years ago]**

_ That day it was pouring down with rain, lighting flashes coming from behind Pepper's bedroom curtains as she hid beneath her covers. Whimpering, she could hear her parents screaming at each other. Pain struck her heart when she heard three words come out of her mother's mouth. 'I am leaving'. Pepper shuddered when she heard the front door open and then shut hard. Pepper was only seven but she knew what was going on and she didn't like it one bit. She wanted to be a happy family, but that was thrown out the window swiftly. Tears flooded her eyes and she crawled into a ball, still hearing the thunder booming outside. This rumble sounded exactly like the sound the door made when it slammed behind her abandoning mother and now she knew that sound would always remind her of abandonment, sadness and anger._

_A knocking on the child's door sounded a hour after her mother had left, indefinably._

_"Honey...can I come in?" Her fathers weak voice sounded on the other side of the door._

_Pepper kept quiet, keeping her cries and sniffling at a minimum. Her dad could still hear his little angel weeping even if she tried best to hide it. He entered anyway. Pepper glanced at her father, his eyes were red and broken. _

_"Daddy...why did mommy leave? Does she hate me? Am I not good enough?" Pepper whimpered, keeping her head lowered._

_"No...no angel your the practically perfect Pepper Potts. Mommy just...needs to leave for a while." He said, sitting on her bed, starting to stoke his daughter's red hair._

_"It's ok daddy...you don't have to lie...we'll be fine right Daddy?" Pepper said, trying to cheer her dad up. She knew she had to be a big girl and help her dad through this bump in the road._

_"I'm sorry Virginia, I tried but she left us. Don't hate me." Mr. Potts said, tears starting to trickle down his face. He then felt a little hand wiping them away._

_Pepper smiled compassionately at her beloved father and whispered in his ear._

_"I don't hate you Daddy. I love you. We can still be a family and I will be a good girl for you." _

_"I love you too sweetie, I promise I will never let you go and will always be there for you." _

_"Yeah...me too." Pepper exclaimed, smiling, although still crying for she would never see her mother again. _

_Another rumble resounded through the walls and Pepper cried even more. Her father took her into his arms and said._

_"Shhh, I'm here...don't cry...shhh." He cradled Pepper until she fell asleep. _

_In the midst of Pepper falling asleep, pepper asked;_

_"Together forever?"_

_"Yeah, together forever."_

**[End flashback]**

Pepper notice tears forming down her cheeks from reminiscing about that awful night.

Every time Pepper thought about her mother, all she could think about was selfishness. How her mother just thought about her needs and not the scars she left on her daughter and husband. She rarely thought about her mother because it made her feel extremely angry. Pepper took a deep breath, calming herself down.

So her big outburst were a combination of three things. PMS, the confusing Tony and the thunder storm, hence thinking about her mother. They were all good reasons for getting mad and three of them combined would make someone snap. Like Pepper did...towards her clueless friends. Oh...what a day. What a never ending day. And it seemed like it was only the beginning.

Pepper ran into her house and past her dad who was sitting on the couch, watching some Spanish soap opera. He had some weird TV preferences. But all dads had something their kids thought of as embarrassing. And watching Spanish soap operas were on the bottom of the weirdness list, especially since other peoples parents were way worst. For example, some parents show their kid's naked baby photos to their friends or tells their kid that they love them while they are just entering school. Now those parents were the embarrassing ones.

Pepper lay on her bed, face smothered by her pillow, not moving. She knew she had to go back and apologise to her friends, but she didn't feel like it right now. She didn't want to tell them the reason she lashed out on them. What could she say.

_"Oh hey, I screamed at you because its that time of the month, you are confusing me by not telling me your feelings Tony and I think of my bitch of a mother who abandoned me when there is a thunder storm." _

No, she couldn't tell them that, but she didn't want to make up some other reason, the only thing she could do is to just apologise and hope her friends wouldn't ask any more questions. Pepper also had acknowledged that she would need to apologise a bit more to Tony, for he was more the target she had sent all her anger on rather than Rhodey who was just standing in the background.

After her pondering, Pepper turned her head, looking at her clock on her bedside table. It indicated that it was 5:47. how the time flew. Pepper was shocked. She had unintentionally stayed on her bed for a little under a hour. Her stomach growled, she clutched it, she hadn't eaten since eating ice cream at the beach. And that happened at 2:00.

Pepper got off her mattress, slowly making her way to the kitchen for a snack.

Pepper tried not to make too much sound since she knew her dad was sleeping in the other room, on the couch. How did she know? He snored, quite loudly.

She opened the fridge looking for something to eat. What was she craving? Like all teenagers, a Nutella sandwich **(A/N: If you do not know what wonderful Nutella sandwich is. It's creamy chocolate spread on a slice of bread. Mmmm. Yummy!)**

The redhead took a seat at the dining room table and ate her sandwich. It cheered her up. The chocolaty goodness, tingling her taste buds and pallet.

Pepper knew she would go to the armoury in the morning, that was her decision.

...

...

Tony was sitting, tapping his fingers on the steel plated table in front of him, waiting to see if Pepper would come back. When she rushed out the door, he was contemplating to rush after her, but Pepper looked like she wanted to cool off, alone. So he respected her feelings. Even if he had no clue why she got so rowdy. She must have a lot on her plate for getting that angry over something so small. Tony continued to rack his brain for anything that could be making Pepper so distressed. He had zilch.

"Tony, will you stop tapping! It's annoying especially since I'm trying to do my math homework. Some people take more than five minutes to complete it." Rhodey grumbled, seated on a newly bought green beanbag, with homework on lap.

Tony turned his head to Rhodey, with a blank expression. Like he was in a daze.

"Sorry, I didn't notice, I was thinking."

Rhodey's left eyebrow lifted.

"About Pepper? Why don't you go talk to her She probably went to her house." Rhodes said, trying to convince his friend.

"You saw how pissed she looked and sounded, over some small cleaning problem. I should let her cool down." Tony sighed, then shivered when he thought about what had happened. He didn't know Pepper had it in her to look so...scary. She was the last person he would think of as...scary.

"I know, I know. But I think you have another reason for not going...a little thing we call procrastination."

"Why would I be procrastinating?" Tony asked, not understanding where this conversation was heading.

"Because you're too chicken to ask her to be your girlfriend." Rhodey crossed his arms, looking smug, knowing he was right. Also with a slight grin on his visage.

Tony stared wide eyed, needing to repeat what his friend had just said to make sure he heard correctly. He had heard correctly.

"How did you know I was going to-"

Rhodey interrupted, explaining.

"Come on Tony, you were acting weirder than usual at the beach. And not only because of that bikini incident. Wanting to spend a lot of time alone with Pepper. Ditching me, buying ice cream, trying to say something important but then getting interrupted when it rained."

" Hey how do you know about the ice cream...oh...You were following us?! I should of known" Stark slightly yelled, and he thought he was spending time alone with Pepper but there was a third wheel.

"What else was I supposed to do? Watching you confess to Pepper in a probably babbling, humiliating way...who wouldn't want to watch that!" Rhodey laughed, picturing it in his head.

"I certainly am **not** going to embarrass myself. Anyway, I will never know for sure since every time I get bombarded by a stupid distraction. And you know Pepper, she easily gets distracted." Tony whined, he was getting annoyed a lot today.

"Ok, chill dude. Talk to her tomorrow, she'll probably come to the armoury in the morning like she always does. I'll just 'supposedly' sleep in and leave you two love birds alone. And just to help, know what you're going to say before you start a conversation with her, then you will have less of a chance of making a fool out of yourself. But you'll probably do it anyway."

"Thanks for that reassuring comment." Tony sarcastically responded. This made him even more antsy. Tony Stark A.K.A Iron Man, losing his courage over a girl. Who knew?

"No problem. So are you going to take my advice?" Rhodey asked, waiting for an answer with haste.

"Yeah, all right. I'll do just that." Tony said simply, not even thinking about it first. He had no idea why he was taking love advice from Rhodey who had never had a girlfriend before either. But he was willing to take that chance. Tony just hoped that Pepper would turn up in the morning like she usually did. If not, he'll have to go to her.

Rhodey went back to his math homework. Finally, after all these years, they would be a couple. Well, he hoped. He had waited a long time for them to get together. He could wait another day. He was happy they went to the beach, where everything started.

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><p><strong>I know what you're thinking...IS HE EVER GOING TO TELL PEPPER?...take a deep breath and calm down. The next chapter will reveal everything.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6: Together or not together

**Ps: I made a few changes to the summery if you haven't noticed.**

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><p><span>Chapter 6<span>

Together or not together...that is the question

"Beep..."

"Beep..."

"Beeeeeeep!"

The alarm of Pepper's clock went off, making Pepper groan slightly. This redheaded girl was positively a morning person. Usually she was up before her alarm went off, getting to school super early to do homework or just talk to friends, but she didn't have school and she knew that today, she will have to apologize to her friends.

Pepper didn't mind apologizing but it was them asking the reason that made her not wanting to get out of bed. She hit the snooze button at least three times but then finally got up when she thought about how immature she was acting. Getting all stressed because of nothing.

The wooden floor chilled her sock-less feet, making her put her salmon bunny slippers on. Pepper opened her closet, deciding what to wear on this another hot day. Rummaging through her small but packed closet, she found a pair of short jean shorts, a grey tank top and a thin silky white blouse. She pinned her hair in a ponytail, she concluded that it would make her sweat less, especially the back of her neck.

Breakfast was nothing out of the ordinary. She had a bowl of cereal accompanied by a glass of orange juice whilst chatting casually with her father who was rushing his breakfast to get to work on time. She was the one who chatted and he was the one who nodded, slightly apprehending whatever she was talking about. Her dad did notice, although, that their usual conversation was a bit less talkative, on his daughter's part. However he brushed it aside, maybe it was just the stress of being a superhero.

"I have to go to work now Virginia, have a good day with your friends." Mr. Potts said, putting his bowl in the sink and heading to get his gun, which was safely hidden away in one of the kitchen drawers, with the safety on of course.

"Daaad, call me Pepper!" She whined, not liking her full name as much as her nickname.

"Sorry, sorry Pepper." He grinned, now heading to the front door, adding something else before leaving.

"Now remember, if you get into any trouble-"

He got cut off by Pepper's mumbling.

"I'll call you, I know, you tell me this every morning. And don't be worried I have Tony...and Rhodey to protect me. We make a kick-ass fighting team and we have super advanced armor." Pepper's voice became louder at the end of her speech.

"I know, just be careful, nobody is indestructible, including you." And at that, he stepped out the door, closing it behind him slowly.

Pepper swirled her spoon in the milk, then got up and placed her bowl in the sink as well. She looked at the large grandfather clock in the hallway, it was 9:30.

_"Guess it's time to head out too." _Pepper thought, grabbing the house keys off the hook that was hanging on the wall by the coat rack.

As Pepper walked down the streets of Manhattan, she observed the things around her. She always loved her home town, and would never leave it to go anywhere else. Everything about New York was wonderful. The civilians, the yellow taxis, Times Square. Although, there was one thing that towered over the other things. The one world trade center. The tallest building in the city situated in lower Manhattan.

Sometimes, after finishing her superhero duties, Pepper would fly on top of this 104 floor skyscraper and just watch the bustling city perform its duties. It was a beautiful view, she could see much of the city, especially lots of yellow dots. This was a place she kept to herself, sometimes it was thrilling of knowing somewhere so beautiful and not telling anybody about it. Not even Tony knew about this place although he did knew about her other spot, the school's roof. But this glass skyscraper was way better. Well, if the person was not afraid of heights, which Pepper wasn't.

From being distracted by her own thoughts, Pepper realised she was already in front of the temple entrance. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.

_"Here goes nothing."_

* * *

><p>Tony once again was subdued by an all-nighter and of course it was his choice. Tony was not a morning person, he was defiantly a night person. Going to sleep at five in the morning and waking up at lunch time. But he never really did sleep in since he had school and during the summer, Rhodey woke him up or the city needed Iron Man. It was one of the two.<p>

Tony did not sleep and this time it was not mainly because he was working on a mind-boggling invention. He was only doing that to keep his mind off more stressing matters. Or you can say he was staying awake, not wanting to leave the armory just in case Pepper came back really late at night or really early in the morning. Unfortunately, neither of his reasons occurred.

By 8:45, Tony couldn't keep his eyes open, what did he expect. He'd been pulling these all-nighters all week. His body would eventually need to shut down, even without permission from his brain. Tony felt like his eye lids were as heavy as a set of weights. Slowly and steadily, his eyesight blurred, seeing black spots and he fell asleep, going into a safe, deep slumber. It was a good thing that nobody was watching him since he was slightly drooling on the stainless steel table. But unluckily, that would only last for a trifling hour. Although, he could still dream in an hour. But about what?

_Tony's dream state_

_Tony was on a roof, a place unknown to him. He was bewildered, not knowing how he got on top of this really tall building. He wouldn't even call it a building, it was more like a skyscraper. Yes, defiantly a skyscraper. Tony continued to feel befuddled, he was on top of a roof, all alone, without his Iron Man suit. How could he be on top of the skyscraper without it? There were no entrances to the inside of the building for the roof, everywhere was just flat, not even a chimney. And most of all, no perching birds._

_Tony racked his brain, thinking about what he did this day, but he couldn't, his mind was blank. He was starting to panic, but it eventually died down when he saw someone appear into thin air on the other extremity of the rooftop. _

_It was a red headed girl. It was Pepper. She just stood there, not moving an inch, like a porcelain doll. But the difference was that she was made out of flesh and blood, more importantly a soul._

_Wind danced with her hair, tangling a few strands together, even with the wind, she still stayed stagnant, not even moving the hair from her mouth and eyes. _

_Tony could see Pepper at a distance, her side to him, similar to the time he saw noticed her at the beach, with the sunhat on. But of course, this time, she had her normal clothes on. Her Peppery clothes._

_Tony ran to Pepper, going to see if she was alright and if she knew how they got there. She always had an answer for everything and this time he really hoped she possessed it._

_"Pepper! Pepper? You ok? How did we get here? I don't remember anything." He shook her, she looked at him. She looked different. More precisely her eyes looked changed, lifeless. Like they were empty, feeling nothing at the sound of Tony's voice. Like he was a stranger._

_Pepper looked into his eyes, piercing them and making him uncomfortable. However, not a good uncomfortable feeling._

_Pepper's face stayed blank but never the less she started conversing with him but not with the enthusiasm Pepper usually had when she talked to anyone, even people she had just met._

_"Tony I know your secret, the one you want to tell me really badly but becoming a coward every time you want to tell me." Pepper whispered softly, still glaring strait into his blue irises._

_Tony just gulped, too infused into the eyes of his friend. She continued._

_"You love me…" She ran her finger down his cheek, hissing when she said those three words. She grinned evilly. Wait? Evilly? Pepper could never act evil. Tony now wanted to speak or at least move, but the ground became liquid and engulfed his feet. Not making him able to move away. His voice had also mysteriously disappeared, oesophagus burning like his voice box had seemingly been thrust out without him knowing it. What the HELL was happening? _

_"Too bad I don't love you. Well… too bad for you, I really don't care. It's kind of fun crushing your heart by just speaking a few words. Why would I love you? A weak guy who needs a machine to keep him alive." Pepper's finger retracted from Tony's pained face and tapped her index finger on the metal machine keeping his heart going._

_"I don't need **you** to protect me. I can protect myself and even if I ever need protecting…Gene would be the person I want." Pepper smiled daringly, adding one more thing to the trail of words that were breaking all hope of Tony ever calling Pepper his._

_"I don't want to see you again….good bye Stark." She spat his name and slowly faded away._

_When completely gone, Tony's voice came back and he was once again standing on firm ground. He could have walked, but there was nowhere to go, so he fell on his knees, feeling that his heart had been rendered into dust. _

_He loved Pepper so much that only a rejection from her could take the almighty Iron Man down. The Iron Man who had defeated so many countless strong villains. That was how much she had an impact on him for he loved her so._

_Then everything went dark and Tony sat in silence. Then he blacked out. At least it was only a dream._

_End of dream_

Tony woke up, a piercing short scream vibrated his vocal cords, falling off the chair he was sleeping on. It was only a dream. But it felt so real, so emotional. He could remember almost everything really clearly. That was one of the many downsides of having a nightmare. They were hard to forget. There are numeral moments in a person's life where everything that they want to remember, they usually forget it. But the deep dark scary things that people always try to forget, never leaves them and haunts them in their nightmares. This was one nightmare, Tony really wanted to forget.

After his scream, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but then relaxed when he saw who it was.

_"Finally, she's here."_

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><p>She entered, looking around for Tony...or Rhodey. She smiled when she noticed Tony sprawled out on a table, sleeping, with drool sticking to his left cheek. She then became worried when she saw his expression change. He started stirring and his whole face started to scrunch up. He was defiantly having a nightmare. But what was she to do?<p>

She wasn't sure if waking him up was a good idea. No predicament like this had ever come before her until today. Using her gut, she ran up to him trying to wake him up, but before she could, he screamed and fell to the ground.

He was awake but was looking a bit disorientated, she put her hand on his left shoulder, showing him that she was next to him. She was feeling worried, he looked quite scared. The dream he just had, had impacted him. And not in a good way.

When she touched him, he became startled. But then she heard him give a sigh of relief and started to stand back on his two feet.

"Tony, are you ok? It looked like you were having a really bad dream. I was going to wake you but you woke up before I could. I'm sorry, I should have come earlier." Pepper said regretfully.

"I'm fine Pep, it was just a dream." Tony said, not looking Pepper in the eyes.

The redhead knew that he was lying, but she let it slide, for now anyway.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here you know." Pepper said, squeezing Tony's hand understandingly.

Tony just nodded. He really didn't want to talk about his dream to Pepper, but then changed his mind when he thought that it could be a good way to tell her his feelings. Before he could, Pepper added something.

"Hey I'm sorry for yesterday…when I screamed at you and stormed out of the room."

"Don't worry about it, you must have your reasons." Tony smiled.

Pepper sighed, relieved that Tony wasn't one bit hurt or mad at her. Furthermore, that he didn't pry into the matter.

"I'm so reassured, and to believe I was getting stressed over this."

After her remark, they stood in silence, thinking of something to say.

Tony was still recalling his dream. It made him lose a considerable amount of courage. And that wasn't a good thing for him. Now he was having second thoughts about his declaration of love. He was doubting, thinking that there was a probability that Pepper didn't feel the same way and shatter his heart into a million pieces. He knew how much pain he felt when it happened in his dream and if it were to happen for real, he would probably feel ever more pain and anguish. But then he thought about how much he loved her, having that dream was proof enough. How he longed to tell her. Yes...he did long to tell her so what was holding him back? Of course it was fear but fear shouldn't be enough to hold Tony Stark back. Absolutely not.

Pepper then cut the silence.

"You sure you're ok? You have been acting strangely, even before that nightmare of yours."

Tony didn't know how to answer. He was a bad liar so there was no use in telling her that he was fine. He had to act like a man and tell her everything, he had to push his doubt and fear aside. She was his best friend and telling her would probably make him feel better...he hoped.

"NO! I'm not ok! These past two days have been driving me crazy and now with that dream I just had, it's gotten even worse!" Tony yelled, more to himself, threading his hand through his messy mop of hair.

Pepper sat down on a chair and motioned with her hand for him to sit next to her. She used her smoothest voice possible to speak.

"Tell me everything"

"If you insist" Tony joked, trying to lift his own spirits. Also trying to fool himself that he was getting forced to reveal everything when the whole time his heart was telling his mind to spill his guts.

Pepper sat there in silence waiting for him to start. Tony was surprised on how serious she was about this matter. It showed that she did care and it warmed up his heart. It was weird, Pepper sitting there, ready to listen intensively without making a remark, not even a word. Sometimes, the redhead surprised Tony in ways he could never imagine. This was one of the times.

"Well...it all started at the beach...when I saw you at the beach, with your sun hat on. It took me some time before I realised it was you. But before I knew it was you, I was thinking how hot you looked... and I was feeling the same emotions I feel for you but stronger. Then when Rhodey told me that she was you, something clicked. I realised how much I care for you. I gotta tell you, those emotions soared past the friend zone." Tony scratched the back of his neck, feeling sweat seeping out of his pores and saw a little tint of red glow on Pepper's cheeks. Inside, his heart had beat twice as fast for a few seconds, seeing that she looked embarrassed yet also flattered.

Pepper still remained quiet and motionless, but on the inside her stomach was doing summersaults while jumping into a pit of fluttering butterflies. He liked her more than a friend! What a turn around.

Tony continued his much needed speech.

"After that, I was keep trying to...to...tell you my feelings but something always got in the way. Then the dream I just had, had you in it. It was you but you were different..." Tony started to pause, trying to find the appropriate words to describe his dream.

He explained Pepper everything, from beginning to end, as much as he remembered anyway. Her eyes looked sad, but she didn't say a word.

"... and then you disappeared, it went dark, and I woke up." Tony shifted in his seat, wondering what Pepper was going to say, if she ever got around saying something.

Pepper was letting it all sink in. Wow, what an awful dream. She couldn't imagine what she would of felt if she had the same dream as him but with Tony saying all those nasty things to her.

Tony was itching to add one more thing, the most important thing of all. And because Pepper remained speechless he went for it.

"I was afraid of rejection, but I will say it anyway...Pepper Potts...I-" He had been stopped mid-sentence but not because Pepper talked over him or a loud noise caught his attention. No, it was nothing like that. The small thing that stopped him from continuing was Pepper's excited behaviour. Because of that, she didn't need to hear those three words, all she needed was a kiss. And a kiss she got, even if it was up to her to take it.

So she kissed him, sending all the feelings she had bottled up for him in one passionate kiss. She hoped he would do the same, after he overcame his shock of her mouth being glued to his. And how right she was.

Yes, Tony was shocked for a moment or two but when that faded away, he picked her up by the waist and placed her on the table whilst Pepper let him, starting to trace circles on the back of his neck. The two eighteen year's olds had their fair share of kisses with three or four other people but nothing felt as real as the kiss or I should say kisses they were experiencing right now, with each other. How it was pleasing to their senses.

Tony was the first to venture his tongue into unmarked territories, also known as Peppers mouth. Moments later Pepper was doing the same. They would have stayed glued forever but there was one thing that could make them stop. Lack of air penetrating their lungs. They didn't seem to mind since between breaths they could have little conversations before continuing their lustful and tender kisses.

"We should have done this a long time ago." Pepper breathed into Tony's ear, also nibbling at it slowly. It was the first time being so...intimate with someone yet her heart took over and told her exactly what to do, and she loved it.

"Yea, then I wouldn't have had to listen to your babbling as much. Who knew this was the only way to make the one and only Pepper Potts almost speechless." Tony joked. Pepper just rolled her eyes, of course Tony would make a joke. He wouldn't be Tony if he didn't.

She placed her forehead onto his, and stared into his alluring eyes whilst he did the same, feeling reeled in also.

"So just to make everything clear, you're my girlfriend now right?" Tony broke the silence, sounding serious and waiting for her answer.

"I guess I am. But you'll have to do one thing before we can make it official." Pepper smirked, but also looked slightly nervous.

"Anything" Tony grinned, thinking that she was going to ask him to kiss her with all his might. But that idea went downhill _very_ fast.

"You'll have to ask permission from my...well...overprotective father who has never ever agreed for me to go out with not even one boy even if I'm legally an adult." Pepper said in her very fast Peppery voice, trying to tell him as fast as possible.

This mission could be something not even Iron Man can complete. Nobody, especially boys, were never able to be approved by her father but she hoped Tony would be different. They would probably be fine. She knew her dad already liked Stark but the only thing on her nerves was that if her father could ever let go of his only precious daughter and family member. She hoped that he would be able to do it.

"Oh...that. He'll defiantly let me date you. I am a loveable person." Tony answered, more telling it to himself that to her.

"Yeah, I guess you are. Well...to me anyway." Pepper smiled, kissing him again, but this time it was shorter and less intense.

"I love you too Pepper." Tony grinned, finally saying it.

"Me too." Pepper said back but she wasn't looking him in the eyes, she was looking past him, distracted. Like she noticed something worthy of taking her attention off her almost boyfriend.

"Hey, earth to Pep, anybody home?" Tony said taking his hands of Pepper's slender waist, putting his left hand on her right shoulder and his other hand was waving in front of her face.

"Hmm? Oh, I think someone is spying on us, I thought I saw a shadow over there." Pepper pointed at the closet on the other side of the room whilst jumping off the table and steadying her feet on the floor.

"That's impossible Pep, nobody can get into the temple without setting the alarms off. Unless..." Pepper then finished his sentence. The couple was already finishing each other's sentences, how adorable.

"Unless it's one of the few people who knows the security code...like our very sneaky and curious best friend RHODEY!" At the end of her sentence, she yelled Rhodey's name, showing the boy in the supply closet that they knew he was there.

Of course the couple was right. Rhodey did quietly creep into the armoury when Tony was still sleeping and hid in the closet when he heard Pepper walk in. Leaving the door slightly open so that he could see the on goings in front of him, between the two hormonal friends, soon to be more.

The thing they didn't know was that Rhodey came prepared. Prepared to do what? He was prepared to film everything and that's exactly what he accomplished with his video camera.

He really enjoyed filming their passionate and intense moment alone together, or so they thought, and now he was able to use this precious video for leverage just in case he ever needed a favour that both of them would usually decline. But not this time since he didn't think that their parents would like seeing what they were doing on the table for the past few minutes. The video was also handy for he could show it to them when he needed a good laugh. Seeing their overly red faces would defiantly crack him up. Yes Rhodey sometimes acted selfishly and slightly cynical. How knew? Well, only himself.

James' idea was to leave unnoticed when all the steamy kisses evaporated and present them the 'Home Video' a few days later but Pepper's Sherlocky eyes and instincts stood in the way. She saw noticed him and he heard her scream his name. He didn't much care that he we was seen. It wasn't the end of the world. Rhodey would just have his undying satisfaction of making them glow burgundy strait away.

Rhodes always appreciated having his two only friends crushing on each other, continuously, since the beginning of their new found friendship. Even if they hadn't realised it much, in the beginning anyway. It always made his life somewhat much more interesting, other than him being a superhero by using heavy duty advanced silver armour equipped with numerous guns and other gadgets. After all, he was called War Machine.

Sometimes though he just wanted to shove Pepperony into a closet and not let them out until something **_Magical_** happened. Luckily, from now on, he wouldn't need to do that. It was really apparent, he saw how passionately they kissed, even if it made him a bit queasy and slightly disgusted.

Pepper waited a few seconds and then heard the closet door creak open slowly, seeing her friend stepping out, walking towards her and Tony.

"Hey guys, how are thing going between you too?" Rhodey winked, full of confidence, not at all ashamed of being discovered hiding in a cramped closet, scrutinizing people. Of course, that's not at all embarrassing.

Tony and Pepper tinted the same colour red as Iron Man's suit. They then looked down and saw, in their friend's hands, the video camera James didn't even care or make any effort to hide behind his back. That's when their crimson faces, hence their embarrassment turned up a notch. However, that wasn't the solely thing growing rapidly. Anger was infiltrating their hearts whilst ardently piecing together the pieces of why Rhodey held a camera in his hands. It didn't take them long to answer their own question. He filmed them. What an irritable and bothersome thing to do. But it was easy to say that those opinions only targeted Pepper and Tony.

"Wait? You filmed us? What the Hell, that's just uncivilised! Delete it!" Tony exclaimed, using his left hand to snatch the personal piece of film that he didn't wasn't anybody else to see. He used his left hand since the other one was clutching on to Pepper's soft warm hand.

Unfortunately, Tony's reflexes weren't fast enough and Rhodey pulled away.

"No touchy Tony, I'm never deleting this, it's really useful. Well, to me." Rhodey laughed whilst Pepper was scowling along with Tony.

As Rhodey was more focusing his triumph on Tony, Pepper decided to use this advantage to pluck the camera out of Rhodey's grubby hands. Extraordinarily, it worked and the camcorder was safely in her possession and nothing she stop her from deleting everything, even if it meant smashing it to the floor and stepping all over it. She would even use a sledgehammer if needed. So many possibilities. She would seem crazy but it was worth it if a sledgehammer was to be involved. She could hammer her problem away with one fair swoop. She was probably going a bit too far with the sledgehammer idea but she was quite angry at Rhodey. She and Tony just had a very special and intimate moment and Rhodes had to spoil it.

"Yes! I got it! Now...how will I destroy it? I wonder?" Pepper spoke in a scrutinizing tone. But then just threw it against the wall, smashing the camcorder into a few big pieces and then finishing it off indefinitely by Tony contributing his feet to smash it under the soles of his shoes.

"Guys! Why did you do that? That's discrimination to all camcorders around the world. You could have just deleted it manually and not have shattered it into millions of pieces! Tony you have a high IQ and designed a highly advanced suit but you do not think to turn the camera on and delete it. Dude, what's wrong with you? "Rhodey sighed, depressed. The camcorder was quite expensive and he wasn't seldom at all rich like Tony.

"There's nothing wrong with me my dear friend, life is way more thrilling when you get to break things. It's a way of life. Take it from me, an inventor and mechanic." Tony smiled playfully, amused from his friend's outburst. Making Pepper giggle also.

"Now if you excuse me, Rhodey. I want some time alone with my new girlfriend." Tony said proudly with puppy dog eyes aimed directly at Pepper. He let go of Pepper's hand and slung his arm around her waist, pulling her snugly against him, making the redhead gasped out of shock, but then let herself lean on him slightly.

It was an effulgent feeling, finally telling each other their feelings. Pepper felt closer to him somehow but she couldn't put her finger on it. And it was not because only a few minutes ago they had their tongues in each other's mouths whilst touching one another in a possessive and quite frankly selfish way. She felt more that an invisible barrier had been lifted. A barrier labeled 'The nervous and crushing on my best friend without him/her knowing it' barrier. That was certainly one way to explain it.

"Almost girlfriend." Pepper pointed out, correcting him, knowing she wanted her dad's approval first, before going out with him. Although, if by any chance he said no, she would eventually change his mind.

There was absolutely no way she was going behind her dad's back and she had her two reasons. Presumably due to the fact her dad was in the police force and would easily find out strait away, finding out things out was his job. He also probably had people keeping an eye on her, if she got into any trouble, even though she had the Recue suit.

Secondly, it would break the trust her father had in her and that was something she never wanted to get broken. She needed him to trust and be proud of her, he was the only one who did all her life, until her two best friends came along.

"True, true." Tony said, slightly annoyed, not being able to call her his girlfriend just yet. Suddenly he took Pepper's hand once again, intertwining his fingers into hers and headed outside, signaling for her to follow him by tilting his head in the same direction as the door.

"Hey! Where are we going?" Pepper spoke inquisitively.

Before answering, he turned to Rhodey and called,

"See you later, I have something important to do with Pep." He turned back to Pepper. "I thought you would have figured it out already. We're going to see your father".

Pepper blinked, shocked at his answer.

"But my dad's at work. You know the place adults go to earn money and get away from their kids."

"So...we'll just go to see him there. No biggy" Tony said. He already had his mind made up and he wasn't going to leave before he got the answer he wanted.

Both of them were as stubborn as...each other.

It was apparent that after this was over Mr. Potts was going to have a massive headache and would probably have to do exactly what the teenagers ask.

But...you never know...I could be wrong. But can writers ever be wrong?

To be continued...

* * *

><p><strong>LONGEST CHAPTER EVER. I CONGRADULATE MYSELF.<strong>

**Please review, at the end of the day I like to open Fan fiction and see all the wonderful comments. ㈶0㈶0㈶0㈶0㈶0㈶0**


	7. Chapter 7: Booms, Flashes and Buses

Chapter 7

Booms, Flashes and Buses

Mr. Potts was doggo in his office, sitting at his desk, fiddling around with the pencil placed in his right hand while doing obligated police reports. They depicted thoroughly all testaments of the witnesses involved in a hostage investigation. The crime was a bank robbery thus meaning that there were numerous witnesses, at least three dozen. Luckily not more.

Virgil laid back into his comfy enough seat, stretching his stiff upper limbs, craving a steaming rich cup of coffee. However there was too much work to do, there was no time for coffee breaks.

Virgil Potts loved going out in the field but even so, everybody still had to sit at a desk sometimes. To do reports. They were always despised by everyone but to keep their pay checks coming in, they did them anyway. It was a cycle of police life. From apprehending a criminal, shooting a gun or saving a kitten out of a tree, reports always had to be written and sent to the highest in command.

Mr. Potts glanced at the clock on the left hand side wall. It was hanging on by a loosely fit nail that Virgil knew would unhinge itself from the wall eventually, taking the clock down with it. But honestly, he was too lazy or maybe just busy to fix it. So when the time came to buy another clock, he will, but now there was no use worrying about a cheap plastic clock that if broken, would change no soul's life.

He wasn't in the best mood since he was feeling a slight migraine coming on and he just wanted to have a quiet and relaxing work day, hoping no one would come into his office unannounced and try to make small talk. He had never liked it when people barged into his office when he had piles of work to do. It was just one of his pet peeves.

He then went back to work, oblivious of who were about to make his pet peeve come true.

* * *

><p>Hand in hand, they ran towards the bus stop for their destination was too far to access by foot. They dashed for the bus station because, once again, it started pouring buckets comparable to yesterday and they didn't consider to bring a brolly. The weather forecast was wrong once again. Auspiciously, it wasn't thundering and lightning much to Pepper's contentment. However, she wasn't delighted, just content since it was still raining and she was getting soaked. The bus station wasn't what you call close.<p>

Pepper sighed, at least she was with Tony, but why couldn't they at least of worn their armor to go to see her dad? She answered her own question.

_"Tony was rushing so much he didn't think that far ahead and just ran out the door with me trudging behind." _She silently sighed once again, but then smiled when she spotted the bus stop and stepped inside to be out of the rain, along with the strong gusts of wind, making many trees around her shake.

The bus stop was nothing special. It was a small rectangular space, with a concrete base and clear plastic walls with the same type of material for the roof. Inside, there was a bench, enough to accommodate maximum two adults and on the left wall was a advertisement place in a large frame.

Pepper and Tony sat down, hands still intertwining and it seemed they were not going to let go anytime soon. It was like they were making a statement. A statement that appeared to exclaim.

"**We are now a couple and we're defiantly proud of it"**

With their free hands, the couple started ringing out their soaked hair and tried to dry their clothes the same way. It didn't really make any difference but it was better than nothing.

Tony smiled to himself, watching Pepper drying herself off. In his mind he kept thinking of how she now belonged to him and also the other way around , in a somewhat metaphorical way. Tony then stopped staring at Pepper and glanced at the computerised screen on the inner wall of the bus stop to see when the next bus was going to arrive. Fourteen minutes. They were lucky, sometimes it took longer that fourteen minutes. He also took in account that there was a large storm outside. He had no time to waste and he began searching for the right words to say in front of Peppers dad. Nothing useful came into his mind. He just hoped something would before he was standing in front of him. He certainly didn't want Pepper to start talking for him, her dad would perceive him as weak.

Pepper also seen that they had a fourteen minute wait until the bus arrived. She then looked at Tony and added cheekily,

"You know there are many things we can do to keep ourselves occupied in fourteen minutes." Tony accidently choked on his saliva a little bit from what Pepper had just pointed out. This was a side Tony never knew about Pepper. Her girlfriend side added with a small amount of seduction. Tony knew he was going to admire this side of her. Tony then followed suit, behaving the same way Pepper was. He never used his romantic side with Pepper before, but it felt right.

"What do you have in mind?" Tony asked, with a glint of satisfaction in his eyes.

He somewhat knew what Pepper had meant, but he knew that it was the best thing to say for he wanted her to tell him exactly what she was proposing. The atmosphere was getting intense, in a highly elevated hormonal kind of way, which was expected and unknown to Tony. He had never felt this much love and feelings for someone other than his parents, so everything romantic , involving Pepper, would be something he had never experienced before. It was equally like travelling to a new country, not knowing what might happen, happy or sad. However, in the complicated mind of Tony, it was worth waiting eighteen years before encountering the wonderful experiences of love and courting. He simply hoped that he wouldn't mess everything up during their new relationship. Nonetheless, he knew he would do everything in his power not to make that happen by simply looking at the glass half full.

He had made a pact with himself to always be capable of making Pepper smile or laugh even through any bad and depressing situation and he made that silent promise the moment she talked to him on the school's roof.

She wasn't just a silly crush or girlfriend that he was going to dump in a few months. He perceived her as the 'One', the One all boys hoped to meet. The only One for him. The One whom he hoped he would marry some day and start a family with. They were old enough to think about these things, he was legally an adult. Not only physically but also mentally. He did know that if they did stay together, it would mean Pepper would be in slight danger for he was Iron Man. But he wasn't worrying. Pepper was already always in slight danger and she was well protected for she was a superhero herself, by using the suit he designed especially for her.

Of course he wouldn't tell Pepper about her being his 'One' for now since they were only in the first stages of their relationship. He didn't even have the permission from Virgil yet. He was just going to follow where the wind blows and start from there thus explaining that he would tell her at the right time. Even though he had no idea when that would be.

What did Pepper have in mind? A make out session of course. The redhead thought that it would subdue the nervousness she was starting to feel rising into her stomach area for she didn't know what her father was going to say. Of course she wasn't just using Tony to make herself feel better, she also just wanted to make out with him. There was nothing bad in thinking that way. It was normal that a girl wanted to kiss her boyfriend. Nothing strange about that.

"This." Pepper answered Tony's question with delight.

She grinned, scotching closer to Tony, if ever possible, and kissed him full on the lips. Her face tinted ever so lightly pink and she waited for Tony to slide his tongue into her tingling mouth.

When Tony caught on, knowing somehow what Pepper was waiting for, she also slid her tongue into his mouth pleasurably and allowed him to lead. He felt Pepper's hands slide upon his chest, both hands mimicking each other, both of them slightly touching the edges of his arc reactor. He heard her ever so quietly groan out of pleasure, making him latch onto her back and do the same thing. He also shivered out of delight for he was holding on to the person most precious to him. He found his hand gently stroking her back, making his hands simultaneously going up and down her spine, making Pepper slightly twitch from the slight ticklishness.

His hands started to go lower and staying there. Making their way underneath her damp tank top, now stroking her the same way as before but skin to skin.

Suddenly and boom of thunder arose and a bolt of lightning flashed into the grey skies, lighting them up for a second. Then another one sounded, ever more loudly than the preceding one. Another flash descended upon the skies, brightness lingering for an extra couple of seconds.

Pepper jolted, pushing Tony away distinctively to place her fingers over her ears, palms touching her cheeks. Her eyes glued shut, body shaking in a randomly fashion. She found herself enclosed into her own mind, feeling like she was back in her room, when there was the terrible storm, when her family had decreased by one. She could feel wetness descending across her freckles and onto her hands, making them feel clammy. She had started crying. It was strange that she had only noticed moments after.

Then, she felt warmth envelope her, like droplets of sunshine trickling onto her skin. The red headed girl was being hugged, by someone who cared, whilst stroking her soft hair slowly and with undying compassion. She felt safe, as if a bit of her sorrow had been lifted off her shoulders and was being carried by someone else. It was reassuring.

When Tony witnessed the thunder, he immediately whipped his head toward Pepper for before he was staring outside, watching the flashes and gusts of carefree wind. He was right, she was afraid. She appeared so small and in need of protection that it made Tony want to punch a wall. It seemed like she needed a comforter and he wanted it to be him.

Pepper never really talked about her childhood, more specifically, when her mother still resided in her life. He only knew that she wasn't in Pepper's life anymore and wouldn't be ever again. Pepper really did love to talk about many things even though many were meaningless. However every time someone asked or talked about her mother, she would make a sad face for only a second, then put her smiling mask on and change the subject by saying a joke.

Tony knew that the reason she had this phobia was something to do about her mother, but he had no clue why. He hoped, for both their sakes, that he could be the one she could declare everything to. Chiefly, the things that brought back painful memories. He could be some sort of magical Band-Aid, someone to help her feel better and heal her wounds. Wasn't that the role of a boyfriend or even a best friend.

He wasn't sure what would help her at this precise moment so he decided to hug her. He wanted to show her that all was going to be fine, that he was there for her, that she wasn't alone. Tony felt her accept his presence and more importantly his arms for she snuggled her head just below his chin. Fitting perfectly.

He was happy that his omnipresence was making a difference for her salty tears had halted and her body lessened in tenseness. Another loud noise erupted throughout the streets but instead of Pepper starting to weep or shake again, she grabbed Tony's shirt, baling her fists into the fabric and didn't dare to let go. This predicament was Déjà-Vu. It reminded him of yesterday, in the car.

Before long, Tony whispered into Pepper's ear, gently.

"Do you want to talk about it? You can tell me anything." Thinking that it was a good time to ask if she wanted to open up to him apropos her perplexing fear of thunder and lighting.

Pepper pondered on the thought of telling him. Maybe it was the right thing to do. It was probably unhealthy for the mind to keep big secrets bottled up without telling not even one soul other that herself. That's what people told her anyway and she believed them.

Her vote was up and Tony was the right person to talk to. And she would tell him right now, with no delay.

Her choice then got declined and telling Tony right now was now inutile since she saw the bus coming up the street. She sighed, of course, the bus had to come right now. Why not five minutes later? She then brightened up again, if possible during a storm, for she knew she had ample amount of time with Tony. She could the be able to discuss this matter later with him, in a more private setting and also in a more comfortable seating arrangement for concrete seats were not appealing to the backside.

The bus arrived, squeaking its tires and opening its doors. The rain and winds had settled. It was presently drizzling little droplets of rain thay looked more like a gentle mist with just enough wind to be able to feel it mildly on a person's face. Thunder rumbled quietly in the background, moving further away, along with the grey clouds that were moving south. The lightning had faded completely.

Tony stood up with the redhead still latching on but now loosely and entered. They were surprised of how fast the fourteen minutes went for them. Unless the buss really did come late but they just didn't realise it. Putting their thoughts nearby they paid to get on and found a seat.

Inside was much cooler and it was pleasurable for the couple who had been outside in a half open bus stop. They needed to thank the city workers for the air conditioning they installed in all the buses.

"We'll talk later, ok?" Pepper reassured Tony, so that he knew that she did trust him enough to tell him more about her mother.

"Fine by me." Tony smiled.

Pepper then groaned.

"I completely forgot! We're going to see my father!"

"Relax, just sit down and enjoy the ride. We'll worry about that when we talk to him."

"Sure." Pepper said, not feeling any better. But still she looked out the window, holding on to Tony's hand in the process and thought about how a lot changed in the past two days. She did agree that they were all happy changes. She was with Tony after all.

_"I wonder how this will turn out?" _Pepper thought, tapping her finger silently on the glass window.

Indeed how will this ever play out?

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>


	8. Chapter 8: Anwering for Another

Chapter 8

Answering for Another

The view from her angle was eyesome. It was truly the New York Pepper knew and acknowledged proudly. The Big Apple was her red delicious, her granny smith. What she was trying to say was that it was her favourite type of apple even if she couldn't actually taste it and eat it.

Tony nudged her shoulder, signalling her that the next stop was time to get off. Then he leaned forward and pushed the red button, that made a small ring, making the bus driver know that they wanted to get off next.

They stood up, making their way to the front of the bus, standing in front of the door for the bus to stop and open its doors. The bus made a sharp and jolty halt, making the pair lean forward, almost falling over. They saved themselves from toppling over by moving their feet apart, to balance themselves.

Once out of the bus, they regretted getting off, for they were back into the humid sticky air. The bus stop was placed oddly enough, right in front of their destination. The police station.

Tony grabbed onto Pepper's hand, squeezing it tightly. Pepper smirked inwardly, knowing that he was getting nervous but was too proud to show it. She hadn't seen Tony this nervous since, well, never.

They entered the building, every one they came in contact with greeted Pepper with warm smiles and also warm words. It was made clear that Pepper spent a lot of time in this building. She was always there when she was small since Virgil worked a lot and Pepper's mother wasn't in the picture to take care of her during his intensive work hours.

The police station was like her second home and family. She knew everybody's name and everyone knew hers. She never felt alone in this place and more importantly never bored.

"Hey Sabine is my dad at his desk?" Pepper asked a middle aged brunette behind a desk, in the entrance. She was the one who spoke into the police radio, saying to the cops on duty if anything out of the ordinary was happening and then giving out the locations.

Pepper looked up to her. She found that Sabine had the most important job. She was the one who knew all the on goings in New York and guided the cops to the crisis.

"Hey honey, he is in his office. But be careful, he looks a bit stressed. Why are you here anyway?" She then glanced at Tony then at their hands and put two and two together

"Oh that's the reason. Good luck. Fingers crossed." She smiled at both of them and then returned to her work.

"Thanks, bye." Pepper said, walking towards the office in the back of the building. The door was closed and Tony could see Virgil Potts painted on the door with white paint, neatly done.

"Let me do all the talking. I want to ask him myself." Tony told Pepper, completely serious.

"Sure, I understand." Pepper responded with a light smile. She then lunged for the doorknob but Tony stopped her by exclaiming.

"Shouldn't we knock? Isn't barging in not a good idea? That lady, uh, Sabine, said that he was on edge today."

"Don't be silly Tony. It's a splendid idea! It's my father why wouldn't he want a surprise visit from his wonderful and loving daughter?" Pepper said, oblivious that sometimes her personality drove people a little over the edge, leading them to get a headache, which mostly happened to her father from time to time. So she ignored Tony's sound advice and opened the door with such force, the door shook.

"DADDY! YOU PRECIOUS DAUGHTER HAS ARRIVED!" Pepper exclaimed dramatically, almost knocking Virgil out of his chair. He was lucky he didn't go get coffee since he would have had the pleasure of burning his lower parts. Or one might say, family jewels.

He put his hand over his heart. "Virginia? You almost gave me a heart attack! Why are you here, and with Tony?"

"Well, you see…" Pepper started but Tony glared at her, making her remember that he wanted to be the one to talk. So she shut up, doing her best not to talk.

Tony inhaled once more and said it straight out. No sweet talk in the beginning he just got to the point really fast without a second thought. It was probably the best way to go, for if people wait too long, they start to stutter or get a loss of words. He made his choice and I dare say, it was a good one.

"Mr. Potts I want to date your daughter. I will always make her happy and most of all protect her from all the aliens and villains out there during battles. I hope dearly that you approve of me and Pepper going out. She is very special to me and I love her." Tony said quite quickly, it only took him one breath. He was starting to talk like Pepper.

When Pepper heard his sweet words, her heart melted from the sweetness. She was glad Tony was talking. He was saying all the right things. She glanced at Tony smiling to show that she liked what he said.

"No." The father said, clearly, with no pause or thought. Well, this wasn't going as planned.

"WHAT? WHY NOT? I will not allow this I am still going to date him with or without your approval! I am old enough to make my own decisions. This is a big mistake telling me no. " Pepper said angrily. Tony squeezed her hand once again but this time to calm her down, but on the inside he was also quite mad but he knew how to control it much better than the redhead.

"Calm down Pepper, I am not finished. If you stop yelling and lashing out on me, I will be able to finish." Virgil sighed, with a bit of sternness in his voice.

"No was the reply I would of said a few years ago but I know you are old enough now and Tony is probably the only guy I will ever approve of and is able to protect you. So, now, I will say yes."

"Yes!" They both cried in unison.

"BUT. Now this is for you Tony. If you ever make my baby girl unhappy and break her heart, I will break your neck. Even if the city loses one of their superheroes. Do you hear me?" Virgil said, with looks that could even make a grown man cry for his mother.

"Y..YES SIR!" Tony exclaimed, like an army newbie, talking to his commanding officer.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Love you! You're the best!" Cried Pepper, hugging and giving her father a quick peck on the cheek.

"I know. I am the best father around. Now leave I have work to do. One more thing Tony, I am watching you wherever you go. Even when you guys are kissing, I'm watching. Remember that." He ended, going back to his work, smirking. He was just toying with Tony, mostly. He was going to keep an eye on the two, to make sure they didn't 'consummate' their relationship before marriage. But above all else he was going to let them be. He knew they loved each other and it was indefinable that they would come and ask him this sooner than later. So he prepared himself in advance. Of course he was a bit sad, knowing that he was giving his daughter away, but at least it wasn't some scumbag she fell in love with. It was Tony Stark and he was perfect for her. It was all for the better.

"Wow, he sure can be scary when he wants to." Tony said to Pepper once they were out of the building.

"I know, but that just means he likes you and is really really protective. But look on the bright side, HE SAID YES! Now I can officially call you my boyfriend."

"And I can call you my girlfriend." Tony answered back, pulling her in for a kiss. But after two kisses, Pepper pulled away slightly from his lips, wanting to continue talking.

"So what should I call you now?" She asked questioningly.

"Whatever do you mean?" He gave off a puzzled look.

"Well, couples usually have cute nicknames for each other. What about sweetie or honey. Oh, oh! Honey bunches of oats. Or baby. OHH, this is too hard." Pepper said, trying to rack her brain for better nicknames.

Tony laughed, finding Pepper's confused face funny. "Why don't' I just call you Pep and you can call me Tony. You know, our names."

Pepper sighed, still hugging Tony's waist. "I guess, but nicknames are way cooler. I'll figure out something eventually."

"You always do" Tony replied, now just wanting to kiss her luscious lips instead of conversing. They could converse in another way. By having their tongues in each other's how Tony could be easily lustful. He was a hormonal guy who just got a girlfriend.

They remained in each other's arms happily roaming. Tony kissed her neck then her cheek bone, trying to smother her face with sweet kisses whilst Pepper took in Tony's scent. He smelled like highly expensive cologne with a touch of grease and oil.

"So what are we going to do now?" Tony asked, slinging his arm around Pepper's shoulder whilst they started walking towards the bus stop once again.

"Let's just go back to my house, I'm getting hungry and it's closer than the armoury or even your magniloquent house. And I can tell you the story of why I am afraid of storms." Pepper replied, already getting a bit uncomfortable for she just thought of her mother again.

"Sure, just don't think you have to tell me everything. It shows that you get uneasy about this matter."

"No, I want to tell you. I'll probably feel much better after. You'll be the first person I will ever tell." Pepper laughed, more out of self-pity, for she found it weird, keeping such a thing to herself for all these years.

"Good to know." Tony replied, letting Pepper support her weight onto his by pushing her closer to him.

* * *

><p>They had taken another bus and were entering Pepper's homely house. She unlocked the door and then placed her keys on the hook where she always put them. Along with Tony, she slipped her damp shoes off and placed them on the mat in the front entrance. She headed up the stairs calling,<p>

"I'm just going to put on some dry clothes. If you want I can find some for you in my dad's closet. It probably won't fit that well, but it is better than nothing."

"I think I'm more comfortable in damp clothes thank you very much. I do not want to prance around in my girlfriend's dad's clothes, just something about that is quite unbalanced. Just go get changed I'll meet you in the kitchen." Tony said, shooing Pepper upstairs and walking to the kitchen.

He decided to use his time to make themselves something to eat for it was lunch time already. He knew where everything was since he'd been to Pepper's house more times than he could count. A good amount of times to know what was in the Potts' fridge and pantry. He found the bread, ham and cheese along with some mayonnaise and got started. A sandwich was all he was able to make since he never practised his cooking skills. Too many other things to do. He was an inventor not a cook. That's what Chinese takeout was for.

He had just set the sandwiches on the dining room table when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He could hear her talking from the hallway.

"So what do you want for lunch? I could mak…" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the lunch already made, ready to be eaten and grinned.

"Do not fret my beautiful princess. Your lunch has already been made." Tony grimaced, bowing like she was royalty.

"Why I am grateful, squire." Pepper said in a posh accent, playing along.

"What, I am only a squire in your eyes?"

"Oh hush. Just eat." Pepper laughed poking his shoulder.

After they had finished eating, they cuddled up on the couch in the living room silently, taking in all the quietness of the room. Tony knew Pepper would start talking when she felt comfortable enough. So he waited, enjoying the peace.

"You know, it was because of my mother." Pepper whispered, slowly, taking her time.

"Hum?" Tony rolled around. They were still on the couch, but with Pepper now on top of him. Their faces were inches apart.

"She was the cause of my phobia."

"Oh. I assumed it was because of her." After Tony's remark, silence re-entered the atmosphere.

"You can continue. I am listening." Tony said, with a soothing voice. Pepper only nodded.

"It was the day my mother left and ironically enough, there was a terrible storm that night. I could hear my parent's screams coming from downstairs. It was the worst fight they ever had. If I remember correctly I think I even heard glasses and plates crashing onto the floor. I was underneath the blankets on my bed weeping. There were booms and flashes echoing in my room. Then I heard the door slam shut, making the thunder remind me now of the door closing, hence thinking about my mother leaving and all the sorrows and bad emotions I felt that day. That's why I have a fear for storms. Silly right?" Pepper sighed, thinking Tony would find her reason strange.

"No don't even think that. It's not at all silly. I can't say I can understand what you feel when your mother left, but I understand what it feels like losing a mother." Tony said, putting his hand to Pepper's soft cheek, and then pushing a stand of red hair behind her ear.

"Thanks for understanding." She smiled then let out a long loud exhale. "It feels so good to tell someone!" She then changed her mood, now smiling sweetly. "I love you." Pepper then planted a heated kiss onto his lips without hesitation.

She then pulled away since Tony wanted to say something back.

"I love you too, so very much." He tightened his arms around her waist, making their hips clasp together.

Pepper flinched, for she was slightly ticklish.

"So, Tony. Do you have anything you have to get off your chest?" She said, tapping her finger on it.

"Let me think. Nope nothing comes to mind. You know all my deep dark secrets." Tony joked.

"Good to know. Let's never keep secrets from each other ok. I want to have a completely honest relationship."

"Me too. I promise if I ever grow a tail I will tell you."

"Very funny." They got interrupted by a phone humming in Tony's pocket. It was a superhero emergency, duty called. For the both of them.

"Time to fight a villain and save the world once again." Tony remarked, putting his phone back into his pocket and standing up alongside Pepper.

"I guess we never get a day off. But I have a feeling that this is going to be fun." She smiled.

"The rest of our lives are going to be fun."

They ran out the door, sprinting to the armory. Another normal day in the lives of the Practically Perfect Pepper Potts and multi-billionaire/superhero Anthony Stark.

_~The End_~

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><p><strong>Yes this was the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Even if it is completed please review. It would be most helpful. <strong>

**Live long and prosper (In adoration of Leonard Nimoy/Spock)**

**~welshcandian14~**


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